Reunion
by Sacred Dust
Summary: What is Riley doing back in Minnesota? Meg doesn't know how she got here or why she ran away. She just wants to help her best friend-even if she can't be sure that any of this is real.
1. Chapter 1

Meg Larsson couldn't sleep.

It should have been easy. The hum of the fan in her window, crickets chirping in the backyard, the gentle rumble of thunder from the edge of the night sky...it was just another peaceful spring night here in Minnesota.

Still Meg tossed and turned. She tried every position she knew of: fetal, face down, feet on the pillow, one leg trailing out of bed...but nothing helped. It was like her mind wouldn't let her drift off.

Unbeknownst to her, Meg's Emotions were also pondering the situation.

 _Why can't we fall asleep?_ Joy asked. _Today was a good day, wasn't it?_

 _I thought it was, but...maybe not. Maybe something bad happened and we just can't remember it,_ Sadness murmured.

Disgust shook her head. _We probably just forgot something. Did we brush our teeth before we went to bed? Ugh, these braces are so gross._

 _Of course we brushed! Mom only nagged us about it a hundred times,_ growled Anger.

 _I don't get it,_ Joy trailed his hand over the console and wondered what to do. _We can't stay up late tonight. We've got school AND a Prairie Dogs playoff game tomorrow. Maybe recalling a nice memory will help..._

Meg found herself thinking back to her 11th birthday several months ago. It was too cold to have the party outside, so she and all her friends went to a movie instead. Her best friend Riley had given her a really cool book about the history of hockey in Minnesota, and they'd stayed up late looking at the pictures.

Meg's eyes drifted across the room. The book still stood proudly on her shelf, but Riley was gone.

Maybe that was the problem. Riley was hundreds of miles away in San Francisco, and they couldn't go to each others' birthday parties anymore. Couldn't go biking together in the summer, or go to Wild games in the winter. Couldn't visit the Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth. When they Skyped each other a few days ago, Riley barely had time to talk at all. "I gotta go!" she said, and that was that.

Meg blinked back tears and pulled the pillow over her head, obscuring her bushy red hair.

 _Now look what you've done,_ Anger said to Joy. _You've got her bummed out about Riley again!_

 _Poor Riley. Nothing's been the same here since she moved away, and she sounded so upset the last time we talked to her,_ added Sadness.

Fear was getting jittery. _Maybe we'll never fall asleep again,_ she fretted. _What if we've got chronic insomnia?!_

Disgust snorted. _Get a hold of yourself. Do you want to turn Meg into a hypochondriac like Aunt Crystal?_

 _Everyone! Let's just go downstairs and get some warm milk or something,_ Joy said firmly. _That usually does the trick._

Meg picked up her glasses from the nightstand and pulled on her fluffy yellow slippers with the googly-eyes her mother glued on them. She leaned into the hallway to check that her parents' door was closed. Seeing the coast was clear, she tiptoed out to the stairs. A heavy rain had begun to fall outside, drumming insistently on the roof and the windows.

 _Careful...don't step on the creaky spots,_ Fear fretted.

Anger was impatient with these precautions. _Who cares? It's not like we're committing a crime here._

 _But you know what a light sleeper Mom is, and Dad gets mad when we wake her up..._

Meg quickened her pace at the bottom of the stairs, pausing only to stick her tongue out at the stuffy picture of her great-grandparents on the living room wall before moving on to the kitchen. The milk was in its usual spot in the fridge-behind all the leftovers from tonight's spaghetti dinner. Mom always cooked too much food. She poured herself a mug and stuck it in the microwave for a few minutes, stopping it just before the beep to avoid disturbing her parents.

She was on her way back to the stairs when she heard something at the front door. It wasn't quite a knock-more like a tapping, soft and careful and barely audible over the rain.

A chill began to creep down Meg's spine. Who would be visiting this late at night? And why would they knock so quietly, unless...

 _Unless they knew we were downstairs to hear them!_ Fear's teeth began to chatter. _What if it's one of those crazy stalkers we hear about on the news?! He could be coming to get us! We should run and wake up Mom and Dad!_

The tapping came again, but there was a pattern to it this time: taptaptap, tap, taptap.

 _Wait a minute,_ Joy chimed in as Meg's fright turned to curiosity. _We know that knock. It's..._

 _It can't be,_ Disgust said.

The control room went silent. Outside, Meg felt her own heart pounding as she slid back the deadbolt and answered the door.

Her mouth fell open.

Standing on the front steps, out of breath and shivering, was Riley Andersen. Her dark turtleneck shirt and slacks were soaking wet, and she gripped the straps of her blue backpack so hard her knuckles were white. Her eyes had a lost, haunted look to them, and were rimmed with red as though she hadn't been sleeping well.

Meg was rarely at a loss for words, but this was one of those times. It felt like an eternity before she found her voice.

"Riley?" she croaked.

Riley nodded slowly. She forced a weak smile even as tears started to flow.

Meg smiled back and shook her head in disbelief. "What are you doing here? What's wrong?"

Her friend spoke for the first time in a dry, tremulous voice. "Um...it's kind of a long story, Meg. Do you mind if I come in?"

Meg nodded slowly. "Hold on a second, okay? I'll go get you a towel."

She ran to the downstairs bathroom. Her brain screamed all kinds of alarms as she did so.

 _This is all a weird dream. Pinch yourself and wake up!_

 _How could she even get here from San Francisco? Where are her parents? Did they move back? Why wouldn't she tell me if they did?_

 _Either you're crazy, or Riley is crazy for coming here. Tell Mom and Dad. Call the police!_

She shook her head angrily. Those things could wait until later. Right now her best friend needed her help. She grabbed a bath towel from the cupboard and ran as quietly as she could back to the door.

"Here! Let's get you dry and then-" Her voice died off abruptly.

Riley was gone.

Even the water that had dripped from her hair and clothes was no more.


	2. Chapter 2

"Sweetie, I'm sure it was just a dream," her mother said delicately.

Meg shook her head and pointed stubbornly at the door, which admittedly looked much less foreboding in the morning sunlight. "But it seemed so real. I mean, she was standing right there. She talked to me."

Mrs. Larsson put her arm around her daughter's shoulders. She had to admit, if only to herself, that Meg wasn't the sort of child to let her imagination run away with her. She'd always been very practical and focused; she got that from her father. But Meg was also eleven years old, the age when many children truly began to grow up and change in the most unexpected ways. The three things most important to her daughter were hockey, bike riding, and her best friend. Now that one of them was gone...well, it was bound to be a stressful time.

"Megan?" she said.

Meg looked up. Her mother only called her that when she had something very important to say.

"I may have told you this story before. But when I was 12 and Great-Grandma Hilda passed away, I had a dream that she was still alive, and that felt pretty real too. For a while I guess I let myself believe it was real."

Meg squinted. "That's kinda weird, Mom. I mean, if it wasn't true, then why..."

"I suppose it was easier to do that than to accept that my grandma was gone. I loved her very much," Mrs. Larsson smiled. "Sometimes, when someone we really care about goes away, we do things like that to make ourselves feel better. Do you understand what I mean, Meg?"

Meg nodded silently. She understood, all right: her mother thought she missed Riley so bad that her mind was playing tricks on her. But that was silly. Riley wasn't dead, and Meg wasn't asleep when she saw her. Beyond that, she didn't know what was going on here. Calls to her friend's cell phone last night had all gone unanswered.

 _Please come back, Riley. You're scaring us._ Sadness hugged himself and stared glumly off into space.

 _Y-YOU'RE sc-scared?!_ Fear said incredulously. _I d-don't think I'll ever st-stop shaking!_

Anger turned on them irritably. _Can it, you two! And don't go giving Meg any more wild ideas. When we see Riley again, we'll find out what she's doing here and then we'll take her to our parents. It's that simple._

 _I hope so, because we really do not need people thinking Meg is crazy,_ Disgust shuddered. _That would be a disaster. Or as Joy here would say, 'a real downer.'_

Meg couldn't stop thinking about it all through the school day. She kept an eye out for Riley in every class, but saw no sign of her. Meg supposed that if she ran hundreds of miles away from home, she wouldn't bother going to school either. But if Riley wasn't here and she wasn't at Meg's house, then where had she gone? Not back to her old house; a new family was already living there.

By the time she suited up for the Prairie Dogs' big game, she'd almost managed to forget about it. If Meg was focused in ordinary life, she was a laser beam on the ice. Her new teammate, Bridget, was the same way. It was probably why they played so well together. Riley was a great player herself, but she could be easily distracted.

On the other hand, Riley had been a lot of fun to hang out with, and Bridget was very serious. Even now as the short, stocky girl came out to join Meg on the ice, she didn't smile; she just raised her stick in a friendly salute, which Meg returned.

"Ready?" Bridget asked.

"Born that way," Meg answered. "So...one game away from regionals. You nervous?"

"Nope," Bridget's eyes gleamed with confidence. "You?"

"Kind of," Meg giggled and bit her lip.

The new girl thumped her gently on the shoulder pad. "Don't sweat it. If we score more points, we win. Just like any other game, right?"

Meg had to smile. That was her new friend in a nutshell. The girls hurried to their positions as the game began.

 _She's so cool!_ Joy exclaimed in Meg's head.

 _She's not like Riley, though, is she?_ Sadness said wistfully.

 _Enough yakking,_ Anger warned them. _It's face-off time!_

Ω

Ω

"What happened in the third period? I gotta say, you really had your old man sweating out there," Mr. Larsson chuckled on his way through the door. Aside from his mustache and receding hairline, he looked very much like his daughter. Meg and Mrs. Larsson followed him into the house, both still grinning and breathless.

"I got thrown off my rhythm with Bridget, that's what! I can't believe it. It's never, ever happened," Meg threw her hands up in the air. "And then it was like, I was depending on her so much before that I had to remember how to play all over again!"

Her parents dissolved in laughter. Mr. Larsson cast his car keys on the table, sat at the kitchen table, and started to relax for the first time since before the game.

"So yeah, that was the whole third period," Meg gratefully dropped her duffel bag on the floor and hopped up to join him as her mother took a bottle of her favorite sparkling grape juice from the fridge.

"Well, two out of three ain't bad," her father winked. "You did good, Little Red."

"You too, Big Red."

"Just think of what Riley's going to say when you call her up and tell her all about it!"

Meg paused and glanced uncomfortably at her mother. She got a sympathetic smile in return.

"Well, to all our friends and teammates who were there for us today, or would be if they could, I'd like to propose a toast," Mrs. Larsson moved quickly to restore the mood, pouring the juice and pecking both of them on the cheek.

"And to escaping with a win!" Meg raised her glass.

Her father did likewise. "And to continued improvement. Because a win is a win, but a really good win is a victory."

"...That means early morning practice tomorrow, doesn't it?"

" 'Fraid so, champ."

She slept a little better tonight. Thoughts of the game helped distract her from the big unmentionable in the back of her mind, and Meg dozed off without incident until a 3 A.M. call of nature. She stumbled back to her room shortly afterward, flopping back into bed with her eyes half-open.

"Geez. Thanks a lot," came the voice. "Now I've gotta go."

It was so familiar, after years of sleepovers and camping trips together in the Minnesota woods, that Meg in her quasi-conscious state didn't think anything of it. There was a rustle nearby, and the shadow of someone slipping out the door. She smiled and closed her eyes.

Seconds later, she sat up. Warm Joy and icy Fear gripped her heart as one.

She looked at the carpet beside her bed, where she could have sworn she heard blankets or a sleeping bag being kicked aside. It was bare. Next she darted out into the empty hallway. No one there either. Finally she peeked into the bathroom and turned on the light, checking even the shower stall and the linen closet.

Meg began to tremble. She wanted to race into her parents' bedroom and wake her mother. But Mom was apt to repeat the same story she told this morning, only in less comforting tones. Dad, meanwhile, would bite her head off.

They'd never believe her. She had to deal with Riley alone for now.

She reentered her room, which looked much bigger and darker than it had before, and switched on the lamp by the nightstand before sitting carefully on the edge of her bed.

"Riley?" she said. Her throat was so dry it came out a whisper.

No answer.

"I know you're here. I want to talk to you," Meg waited in vain, until tears began to blur her vision. "Please? I don't like to say stuff like this, but I...I miss you. Really bad."

There was nothing, save for her drapes moving slightly in a night breeze.

She fought the lump in her throat and spoke again. "Do you remember when I used to sleep over at your house, and your dad would always say 'lights out, girls'? So that one time we...we unscrewed all the light bulbs on the second floor and came down and showed him? He got that funny scowl on his face, and your mom couldn't stop laughing, and..."

And nothing.

"I guess it was a dumb joke anyway," Meg said. "But that's what I'm gonna do now. Lights out."

She unscrewed the bulb from the lamp and settled back into bed.

"You're not supposed to be here, and I know you're in trouble. That's why you don't want anyone to see you. So if you need to talk to me in the dark, you can."

The silence stretched on into eternity, and though she tried to stay awake, exhaustion and nagging doubt wore down her defenses. As Meg's eyes closed again, the breeze outside died down until the drapes by her window were still.

Something rustled.


	3. Chapter 3

_(BTW, just so there's no confusion, here are the 'genders' of Meg's emotions._

 _Joy: male_

 _Sadness: male_

 _Anger: female_

 _Disgust: female_

 _Fear: female)_

Ω

Ω

It was morning when the alarm went off and Meg opened her eyes again. Pale sunlight streamed innocently into the room. The deep shadows and strange noises of last night were just a purple-tinged memory, and her mind quickly reasserted control.

 _Okay. You guys all saw that, right?_ As usual, Anger paced around the console and led the discussion while her colleagues shuffled sleepily into HQ. _We took out the light bulb, we practically BEGGED Riley to talk to us...and still, nothing. Let's just come out and admit it: we're hearing things._

 _You mean we're going nuts?_ Disgust recoiled at the thought.

Fear hugged herself and shivered. _We're crazy? Are they going to lock Meg up and make her wear one of those funny jackets?!_

Sadness shook his head. _No, girls. I think Anger means we just heard a few noises when we were half-asleep and THOUGHT it was Riley. I hope not...I really wanted to be with Riley again. But I guess she has a point._

 _Come on, dude! We can't give up that easily!_ Joy folded his arms. _We didn't just hear her, remember? We saw her! Two nights ago, standing right on the doorstep. How do you explain that?_

 _How do YOU explain that we haven't seen her since?_ Anger countered. _Look, I know you and Sadness really wish Riley WAS here, but it's time to stop the silliness. She's in San Francisco. We're still in Duluth. Period. Now let's practice with Dad, go to school, and get on with our life._

She turned to the console and began punching buttons.

Meg jumped out of bed with a determined frown on her face. First she screwed the bulb back into her lamp. Then she took some clean clothes from the closet and grabbed her favorite headband from the shaky wooden desk her father built. It was there that she saw the book lying open. She closed it and glanced at the cover. 'The State of Hockey: An Illustrated History.' The book Riley had given her. She did not remember putting it there.

Meg grit her teeth. She stuffed the book back in its place on the shelf and stalked out of the room.

Ω

Ω

 _Riley is so lucky she missed the spring trimester,_ thought Meg. Douglass Elementary was okay on the whole, but her class schedule this time around was exceptionally dull. Even the school calendars cheerfully proclaiming 'Friday!' were not enough to lighten her mood.

First she had Mr. Ciskan the Art teacher, who taught the students less about art itself than his own career as an artist. Then came Mrs. Sjodin, the new Chemistry B teacher whose hair was prematurely white-rumor had it, as a result of an accident with her chemicals. Midday brought lunch and Ms. Loweller who disliked both Home Economics and fifth-graders and, naturally, taught both. Social Studies C was Mr. Smith, whose droning voice did little to bring his subject to life. By then Meg was barely awake and wondering if her one interesting class, Sports History with Bridget, would ever arrive. But mostly she thought about Riley.

Maybe Mom was right. Maybe that one time she saw her was just a dream...

But that made no sense. How could something so real be a dream? And if it was, then how could you be sure that you were ever awake? Meg bit her lip and stared out the window, not seeing the blue sky beyond.

Mr. Smith turned on his projector. That meant it was time to take notes. Meg opened up her notebook and remembered how Riley used to draw hockey sticks in place of bullet points. After a moment of hesitation, she did the same.

The rest of the day went by in a slow-motion blur. Meg was quiet and preoccupied all through dinner. Her parents didn't seem to notice; they were having an animated conversation about the movie they were going to see that evening. Meg did not want to talk. She wanted to take a bath, get back to her room and...then what? Wait for something to happen?

 _Enough_ , she thought to herself. _This is all just nonsense. As soon as I can I'm going to call Riley and find out what's going on._

Ω

Ω

"Lights out, Little Red," her father called from the other side of the door. "The next playoff game is tomorrow, so practice again in the morning."

"Okay, Dad!" Meg sighed as his footsteps receded down the hall. She had lost track of the time. She was still sitting on the edge of her bed and staring at the phone, wondering if this was a good idea after all. If she was right it would bring up a whole bunch of problems, and if she was wrong then this whole thing really was her imagination. Or she was nuts. If that was true, she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

She scowled, suddenly upset with herself for being so timid. Megan Larsson didn't hide from the truth! She grabbed the phone and selected Riley's number. It rang once, twice, three times. On the fourth ring it stopped. She held the phone up to her ear and listened hard.

 _"Meg?"_ Riley's voice said.

The room got brighter, and the entire world along with it.

"Riley! Is it really you?"

 _"Of course it is!"_ Riley chuckled on the other end. _"Wow, I'm really glad you called! I've had a lot of stuff going on, and...anyway I'm sorry I didn't get back to you sooner."_

A warm smiled spread across Meg's face. "You should be! God, I was so worried about you I could've had a heart attack!"

Riley chuckled on the other end. _"You were? Why?"_

"Well, you didn't call for a few days, and..." Meg hesitated. "Listen, this is gonna sound weird and maybe I'm just imagining things, but you are in San Francisco, right?"

Now Riley sounded a little worried herself. _"Yeah. Yeah, of course I am. I don't really want to be, but you know how it is."_

Meg breathed out slowly. It was a relief to know her friend was safe, and yet she felt so disappointed she thought her heart would break. "So you're sure everything is okay? Like, nothing's been going on lately?"

 _"Well, it's really funny you would ask, but I guess I had to tell you sooner or later. You have to swear you won't tell anyone about this. But a few days ago, I did something really stupid."_

She held her breath all over again.

 _"Things are really different down here. It's like nothing is right anymore. The school, hockey, the dead rats-"_

"Dead rats?!"

 _"Long story. Anyway I guess I just got so sick of it here that I, um, kind of got on a bus and tried to go home."_

"Y-you did? Really?" Meg's eyes widened. Her throat felt as dry as a desert. She'd been right after all! Maybe this was Riley's way of breaking it to her. Just act like everything was fine, and then...

 _"Yeah, really. I almost got out of town but then I chickened out,"_ Riley laughed a second time, but it sounded a bit forced. _"Too bad, huh?"_

Joy faltered. _What? No way! There has to be more to it. We all saw her, didn't we? It can't be a coincidence!_

 _This is so freaky. Aren't you guys scared?_ Fear whispered.

 _What scares me is that for once I agree with HIM._ Anger jabbed a finger in Joy's direction. _Time to turn up the heat!_

Meg bristled, gripping the phone more tightly. "Oh, give me a break, Riley. This is serious. I _saw_ you."

 _"Saw me? What are you talking about?"_

"Here in Minnesota! What do you think? You were standing right here at my front door two nights ago! Look, you don't have to tell me everything if you don't want to, but at least let me help you! I promise I won't be mad, okay? Just tell me where you're hiding and I'll come get you."

There was a pause. When Riley spoke again, she sounded nervous. _"Listen, Meg...I don't know if you just saw someone who looked like me or what, but I'm still here."_

"Riley, it was you! You talked to me and everything!" Meg shouted.

 _"I wish I_ was _back there with you. I really do. But that's not the way it is anymore, you know?"_ Riley sounded strange all of a sudden. Like an alien. Or worse, like a grownup.

She was lying. Meg didn't know how she knew this, but she did. She took a deep breath. "Riley, I know you must be really scared right now. But I'm still your best friend. And...and I love you. Now swear to me that you're not here."

 _"Meg, please-"_

"SWEAR!"

 _"I..."_ Riley's voice quavered slightly. _"Look, I gotta go. I'll get back to you, okay?"_

"Wait! Riley, don't-"

CALL ENDED, the screen said.

Meg growled in frustration and threw the phone into the mess of blankets at the end of her bed. She knew it! Of course Riley couldn't promise she was gone, because it wasn't true! Why couldn't Riley just trust her?

There was another knock on her door.

"Meg, honey? Are you all right in there?"

"I'm fine!" She winced at the anger in her own voice. "I mean...I'm fine. Sorry, Mom. I'm going to bed now."

Her mother sounded uncertain, but she left her alone. "All right...just let me know if you need to talk."

Meg needed to talk, all right, but not to Mom. She sat staring at the wall and wondered what to do next. If Riley wouldn't let her help, then what could she do? She couldn't search the house for her because it would make too much noise, and she couldn't check the garage or the shed because she wasn't allowed out after nine. Unless...what if she sneaked out? She'd never done it before, but it was just her own backyard after all, and climbing down and up the trellis below the hall window would be a snap.

She waited a little while until she was sure her parents had gone to bed, even though every passing second was torture. Then she slipped out of her bathrobe and put on a black sweatshirt, gray tennis shoes, and her darkest blue jeans. She took a flashlight from the closet, too. It was neon green and the beam was kind of weak, but it would have to do.

The upstairs hallway was dark and quiet. Meg closed the bedroom door behind her as quietly as possible. Then she crept past Mom and Dad's room, scarcely breathing until she reached the window. Mom always left it halfway open when the nights got warmer, and when she pushed it up just a little more it moved without a sound.

Meg leaned out and examined the yard. It was clear; there was barely any moon and a tall fence going all around. Their neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Marling, were older folks and probably sleeping already. She could look around for a little while without any problem. She stuck one leg out the window and found a foothold on the trellis, then began her slow journey downward.

There were no four-foot-tall shadows slinking around out here, just a few birds and the occasional creak of a budding tree branch. She pulled up the hood of the sweatshirt to hide her shock of red hair and quickly went to work. She looked behind every tree and bush, and when she found nothing there, she poked around in the garden shed as well. Lots of rusty tools and spilled bags of fresh topsoil, but no Riley. That left only the garage. She slid the shed door closed and was hurrying back across the lawn when something stopped her cold.

The light was still on in her room, and behind her curtains, a familiar shadow stood watching.

Meg's heart pounded in her chest as she bolted up to the trellis. Climbing up was harder than climbing down, but she managed without making too much noise. With silent bounding steps that would have looked amusing if anyone were there to see, she rushed back up the hallway towards her room.

The door stood open, spilling a yellow ray of light out onto the floor. But the figure was gone.


End file.
